Myths of Winter Weather

As part of this Winter Weather Awareness Week, I thought I’d display some common myths about winter conditions. Winter is a great time to stay inside by the fire, but as you know – we do have to venture outdoors during the winter months. Therefore, I will discuss a few things that you want to keep in mind – that you may not have known!

The first thing pertains to winter weather deaths. Many people believe that the main cause of death in the winter season is due to the extreme cold. Actually, the main cause of many deaths in the winter season is due to traffic accidents in the harsh conditions and right below that is deaths related to heart attacks from shoveling snow.  In winter storm conditions, stay off the roads as much as possible. It will save your life – and make life easier for snow removal crews and emergency vehicles who may have to venture out in the storm for business. Secondly, try to purchase a hefty snow removal apparatus for your home so that you don’t have to shovel the snow – especially when it piles up!

Secondly, when you’re driving in snowy or icy conditions, many people think it’s better to put on the breaks quickly to allow the car to stop quicker. However, in these hazardous conditions it is best to apply the brakes on your car slowly and just a little at a time. Give yourself plenty of space when driving on snow-covered or icy roads – or better yet; stay off!!!

Many people don’t realize the hidden dangers of winter. Remember that prolonged exposure to the cold leads to frostbite and hypothermia. Pay attention to the temperature that meteorologists refer to as the wind chill. This value is not the actual air temperature, but refers to how cold it actually feels outside – given the cloud cover and wind speed. Also, another leading cause of winter-related deaths is due to house fires from space heaters and fireplaces. On the blogroll, I have a link to the National Weather Service page for winter weather safety. Please consult this often for tips on how to stay safe this winter season. Keep it here for all of your winter weather news updates.

Winter Weather Awareness Week

Believe it or not, the 2009-2010 Winter season is just about upon us! The National Weather Service in Cleveland has designated this week, November 15 – 21 as Winter Weather Awareness Week! I will take the opportunity to post my Winter Weather Terminology page as a tab on the homepage, which will be accessible through March. This page is your one-stop shop for all of Youngstown’s winter weather information. I have posted all of the terms I will be using throughout the winter. Also, if Mahoning County is under any winter weather alerts, it will be posted under this winter weather page.

Even though it is only the middle of November, it is important to start remembering your winter weather safety tips. Winter weather is very dangerous and often deadly. I will have posts throughout this awareness week regarding safety and statistical information about the winter season. Remember, all throughout the Winter season here in the Mahoning Valley, keep it tuned to Youngstown WeatherWATCH – your Winter Weather Authority!!!!!!

Approaching the Peak

With the cool weather this week continuing into the weekend – it feels more like Winter than fall, but we are now in the peak season for leaves. Next week should be a little nicer to go view some of the valley’s nicest fall foliage. Next week should be peak conditions as well for the Allegheny Mountains in PA. The farther south you go, the later the peak season for foliage is – so if you can’t make it this week, just move your locations!!!

Best Canfield Fair Yet

No one can say what this year’s Canfield Fair will bring for the Mahoning Valley, but I can promise you one thing: the weather should be JUST PHENOMENAL for every day of the fair; Wednesday through Monday. A ridge of high pressure should hold firm across the region through the beginning of next week, so the only thing prohibiting sunny skies may be a few fair weather clouds during the afternoon. However, every day should be mild with temperatures in the middle to upper 70s, and cool at night with temperatures ranging from the upper 40s to the lower 50s. PLEASE get out and enjoy the 2009 Canfield Fair – the weather forecast will probably be the best fair forecast ever!

Severe Threat this Afternoon

It is becoming a dangerous afternoon as a line of extremely intense thunderstorms have developed in northeast Ohio. At 3:43pm ET, the line was entering Ashtabula, Trumbull, and Portage Counties. They will be through Akron by 4pm, and Niles and Youngstown by 5pm. These storms have a history of wind gusts of 70 mph and nickel size hail. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH is in effect through 11pm. PLEASE be alert for threatening weather especially over the next two hours, but possibly later if more storms develop.

What does this Summer Mean???

So far this summer has featured many days with temperatures below average for not only us in Ohio, but for a large portion of the northeastern states. I know the official start of winter isn’t for 163 days, but some people have asked me what, if anything, the summer weather can predict for the winter ahead. From reading a few articles and searching some records, what I can say to answer the question is that there isn’t really a good correlation between summer and winter weather. There have been summers in the past with below average temperatures and then the winter was rather warm, and vice versa. Perhaps the most influential aspect of predicting the winter comes from the water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean – referred to by meteorologists as El Nino and La Nina. This year we are in a developing El Nino stage, which typically would bring a winter with less wintry-precipitation for the Great Lakes and Northern U.S. So, in short – enjoy the summer and don’t worry about winter right now!

Actually we will continue to be right about at our average high for the next week. We will be right around 80 degrees over the next few days, with the chance of rain only on Saturday. There will be some scattered showers and thunderstorms, some of which may be severe. Keep an eye to the sky if anything threatens. Have a great weekend everyone!

Severe Weather Awareness Week

This week has been declared Severe Weather Awareness Week. As a part of this week, Ohio will be doing their statewide tornado drill tomorrow morning at 9:50 Wednesday morning. This week is meant for residents to review severe weather preparedness actions for the severe weather season, which for our region in Northeastern Ohio is climatologically between April 1 through September 5. As I did last Spring, I have posted a Severe Weather Terminology page to refresh everyone’s memory on terms that I will be using during the Spring and Summer months. Beginning next Wednesday, April 1st, I will put the Storm Prediction Center’s Day 1, 2, and 3 severe weather outlooks and highlight the severe weather potential for Mahoning County for that particular day. As of last Friday, the first day of Spring; I added new links to the Storm Prediction Center and the National Weather Service Severe Weather Safety page. Use these links as well as Youngstown WeatherWATCH for all of your severe weather needs this season!

Last Night of Winter

At 7:44 am Friday morning our Spring equinox will take place. However, it will feel more like winter as our low temperatures tonight will dip down to around 20, with highs only getting to about 42 tomorrow.

Since Winter is just about over (which, if you know me – it makes me very sad) I am going to do my 2008-2009 Winter Analysis! Overall, the state of Ohio saw below average temperatures for the winter months. While we were way below average in terms of March snowfall, by over 6 inches (even though March isn’t over yet – I highly doubt we’ll get that much more snow) we were way above average in the snowfall rankings for the last few months. Our snowfall totals are near 83.5 inches so far, compared to our 48.6in average snowfall for a given year.

While the winter season has come to an end, the end of March and April have been known to have some decent snow events. Don’t let your guard down. However, I will be updating my pages and links to add in your severe weather terminology and severe weather information for the Spring. I will be doing that over the next few days.

Bad News

Bad news for all of you people out there who love to sleep: we turn our clocks forward tonight. This means we lose an hour of sleep. Daylight Savings Time returns overnight, so be sure you move your clocks ahead one hour tonight before going to bed. Have a great Sunday…stay dry!

February 2009 Recap

A new feature of Youngstown WeatherWATCHwill be my analysis of the previous month’s weather as a whole. Each month, The National Weather Service issues monthly climate summaries for various locations, so I will share that information with you.

For February 2009, we had a very close to normal month. However, we had some very opposite extremes. The highest temperature recorded in the month was 64 degrees on the 11th, while just about a week earlier on the 5th, our lowest temperature of the month was recorded at -4. We had 2.00 inches of rain for the month, only .03 in below average, and were 3.0 inches above average in the snow department, with the month totalling 13.5 inches, but was way off from last year’s 31.7 inches of snow we got in February. As we begin March, average highs will range from 41 at the beginning of the month to 52 by the 31st. However, we are prone to big storm systems during the month as we transition seasons, so major snow events and/or severe thunderstorms are not uncommon during the month of March. Keep it here as we are Youngstown’s Weather Authority!